Artificial intelligence is transforming how consumers shop, and payments are at the heart of this evolution. The rise of agentic commerce – where AI acts on behalf of consumers to find, select, and pay for products – is being hailed as the next major shift in e-commerce. Yet much of the infrastructure needed to make it work already exists.
Advances in tokenization, authentication, and regulation under PSD2 and PSD3 have laid the groundwork for secure, delegated transactions. Whether it’s a person or an AI agent completing the purchase, the same fraud and compliance protections apply.
Closed ecosystems or open networks?
The real question isn’t if agentic commerce will happen, but how. Some approaches will remain tied to specific platforms – such as ShopPay – where merchants and consumers interact within a closed ecosystem. Others could evolve into open, browser-based models capable of engaging multiple merchants and payment methods, similar to how Google or Perplexity operate today.
For retailers, this creates a crucial consideration: will their payment systems be visible and compatible with the AI agents influencing customer choices? And will consumers notice if their AI only recommends certain merchants?
Trust remains the foundation
Trust has always underpinned commerce. In an AI-driven landscape, decisions will be made in milliseconds, placing new emphasis on reliability, security, and speed. Retailers must ensure their systems enable frictionless authentication, high approval rates, and strong fraud prevention.
Emerging standards such as Know Your Agent (KYA) aim to confirm that AI systems act on behalf of genuine, consenting users. However, new challenges are already emerging – from synthetic identities to AI-enabled scams – requiring continued vigilance.
Building resilience without disruption
Agentic commerce won’t appear overnight, but businesses that act early will gain a competitive edge. Retailers don’t need to rebuild from scratch, but they do need flexible, interoperable payment systems that are AI-ready. Those who invest now will be best placed to thrive as the next chapter of commerce unfolds.
Find out how Ecommpay prepares businesses for the future of payments.
